Episode 2 (S1)
Characters In Order of Appearance *Eiichiro Maruo *Natsu Takasaki *Takuma Egawa *Eiichiro Maruo *Sanae Maruo *Kojirou Kageyama *Coach Morimoto *Natsu Takasaki *Yuki Tajima *Takuma Egawa Summary Eiichiro resumes his free trial in STC. He manages to hit a return correctly due to Natsu's guidance and decides to take tennis as his exercise. Just as he searches for his tennis balls after hours of hitting the wall, he seems Takuma and Natsu who seem to be kissing. Synopsis Eiichiro gets surprised when Natsu suddenly looks at his direction and hurriedly hides behind the wall. He gets another surprise when Kageyama calls him out and accidentally spills the water in the pail which he carried earlier. While inside the bus after finishing his cram lessons, he remembers his conversation with Natsu regarding dreams. Then, he decides to stop at a nearby bus stop and run instead in order to increase endurance - and ends collapsing when he reaches home. On the following Wednesday, Eiichiro decides to resume his free trial. Coach Morimoto explains to Eiichiro regarding the training program STC gives to junior players who dreams of becoming a professional player. Later, Eiichiro joins the STC members on their warm-up and he does not collapse this time. After the warm-up, Coach Morimoto accompanies Eiichiro for his first lesson and explains the division in STC's training program. Since Eiichiro is still a beginner, he ends up in the corridor. As Eiichiro's lesson is about to start, Coach Morimoto has to go out due to a phone call. While waiting for Coach Morimoto, Eiichiro watches the other players in the courts. He ends up in court A where Natsu and Takuma's practice is about to begin. Natsu notices Eiichiro and approaches him to ask if Eiichiro is going to join the tennis club. As Eiichiro is about to reply, he notices the sudden immense aura by Takuma, causes Eiichiro to flinch. Natsu introduces Eiichiro and Takuma to each other. When Natsu learns that Coach Morimoto is not present, Eiichiro ends up Natsu's hitting partner and is at lost on the tennis terminologies mentioned by Natsu. Natsu also teaches Eiichiro how to return the ball and asks Takuma to serve for Eiichiro's practice. Takuma, at his frustration, hits a very powerful serve which causes Eiichiro to be scared. Takuma hits an easy ball on his second serve so that Eiichiro can hit it easily. Natsu continues to correct Eiichiro's form until Eiichiro manages to hit a perfect return. Just as Eiichiro feels happy when he managed to hit one correctly, he gets scared again when Takuma glares at him and tells him to leave. After the lesson with Coach Morimoto, Eiichiro receives a pamphlet and an application form in case he decides to join STC tennis club. At home during dinner, Eiichiro tells his decision to take up tennis to his mother. After school, he is accompanied by Kageyama to buy tennis equipment. He also starts to study the tennis terminologies and practices hitting ball on the wall in order to recreate the sensation he had before. Kageyama does not expect that Eiichiro takes notes for tennis as well and ends up accompanying him for his practice as well. Just as Eiichiro is searching for his tennis balls, he sees Takuma who seems to kiss Natsu. Manga & Anime Differences * Inside the bus, when Eiichiro starts to consider Natsu's statements about goals and dreams and drops off to his bus to run going to his house (he considers Coach Morimoto's suggestion to run to increase stamina), in the manga, it happens after Eiichiro leaves STC premises while in the anime, it happens after Eiichiro attends cram school. Also, in the manga, his parents have to pick him up because he cannot go further due to his tired body while in the anime, he manages to return home. * When Coach Morimoto gives a brief explanation to Eiichiro of STC's program for junior tennis players, in the manga, she gives the explanation in Eiichiro's first day while in the anime, she gives after Eiichiro returns to resume his free trial. * The scenes only present in the anime: ** Mentioning the cram school where Eiichiro currently attends. ** Giving an (vague) explanation regarding the tennis courts. ** Coach Morimoto giving Eiichiro a pamphlet and application form in case he will be interested to formally joins STC. ** Eiichiro telling his mother to join STC and will pay for the tennis equipment. ** Eiichiro and Kageyama go to Yamamoto Tennis Shop to buy a new racket. ** Eiichiro studying the technically terms of tennis such as the size of a tennis court. * Instead of playing with a Nintendo DS (in the manga), Kojirou Kageyama plays with a smart phone (in the anime). Navigation Category:Episodes Category:Introduction to the Tennis World Arc Category:Volume 1 (DVD) (S1) Category:Season 1